Pakistani Scientists success in producing natural gas from Thar coal

Thar coal power generation project has completed successfully Dr Samar Mubarakmand said on Wednesday., Talking to a private news channel, he said that the chairman of the project, Dr Samar Mubarakmand and his team successfully converted underground Thar coal in Tharparkar into coal gas. Thar project would start producing 100MW electricity, its capacity would be gradually increased it will produce electricity at Rs2 per unit.

The team of Dr Samar has achieved a great success in producing natural gas from under ground coal gasification technology in Thar coal Block 5.

Dr Mubarak said, coal was burnt at about 250 feet underground on December 11, on December 19 scientist successfully found the gas at Islam kot area of Thar.

He further added that, This project can generate 10,000 megawatts electricity for 30 years and can produce 100million barrel diesel per year.

He said that the project is to cost Rs8.898 billion with a foreign exchange component of Rs 5.847 billion that was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council last year.

Dr Mubarakmand said that the success of the Thar coal project will lead to investment from the leading international companies.With the completion of coal-fired power generation project, the nation would get cheap and sufficient power supply thus resolving the current pestering energy crisis, he added.

Dr. Samar said it is for the first time in Pakistan that the coal gasification is being launched on commercial basis and abundant and cheap electricity will be available.He said the coal gasification was already producing 50000MW around the world, as the cost of electricity per unit is relatively low.He said the four continents in the world are working on this project, as this method has enhanced energy efficiency reaching to 76 per cent.He said the new growth strategy of the country is being emphasised on power generation through coal.

Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is the process by which coal is converted in situ into a combustible gas that can be used as a fuel or chemical feedstock. It is a process to convert unminable underground coal/lignite into combustible gases (i.e., combustible syngas – a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide) by gasifying. UCG uses a similar process to surface gasification.